mongoose ref only returns one element inside array - mongodb

Question

I am trying to reference an array of categories but output is only returning one element inside.
here is the post model, I'm I am wondering about post_categories that has a ref to Category
here is the post model
import mongoose from 'mongoose'
mongoose.set('debug', true)
const postSchema = mongoose.Schema({
user: {
type: mongoose.Schema.Types.ObjectId,
required: false,
ref: 'User'
},
post_title: {
type: String,
trim: true,
min: 3,
max: 160,
required: true
},
post_slug: {
type: {},
unique: true,
index: true
},
post_excerpt: {
type: String,
max: 1000
},
post_content: {
type: {},
required: true
},
post_thumbnail: {
data: Buffer,
contentType: String
},
post_comments: [{
type: mongoose.Schema.Types.ObjectId,
ref: 'Comment',
require: false
}],
post_tags: [{
type: mongoose.Schema.Types.ObjectId,
ref: 'Tag',
require: false
}],
post_categories: [{
type: mongoose.Schema.Types.ObjectId,
ref: 'Category'
}
],
post_meta_title: {
type: String,
required: false
},
post_meta_description: {
type: String,
required: false
},
post_meta_keywords: [{
type: String,
required: false
}],
allow_comments: {
type: Boolean,
required: false,
default: 1,
},
allow_search_engines: {
type: Boolean,
required: false,
default: 1
},
published: {
type: Boolean,
required: false,
default: 0
}
}, {
timestamps: true
})
const Post = mongoose.model('Post', postSchema)
export default Post
this is from the post controller
const getPosts = asyncHandler(async (req, res) => {
const posts = await Post.find().populate('post_categories')
res.json(posts)
})
this is the category model, I'm thinking the problem is within the post controller or the post model though.
import mongoose from 'mongoose'
const categorySchema = mongoose.Schema({
name: {
type: String,
required: true
},
post_count: {
type: Number,
default: 0
}
}, {
timestamps: true
})
const Category = mongoose.model('Category', categorySchema)
export default Category
here is output with the populate
[
{
"post_comments": [
"60257ffd6b08fb4334078b56"
],
"post_tags": [],
"post_categories": [
{
"post_count": 2,
"_id": "602148846168c7408831ac4c",
"name": "Category One",
"__v": 0,
"createdAt": "2021-02-08T14:19:48.647Z",
"updatedAt": "2021-02-19T05:55:45.944Z"
}
],
"post_meta_keywords": [],
"allow_comments": true,
"allow_search_engines": true,
"published": false,
"_id": "602148846168c7408831ac49",
"post_title": "Post One",
"post_excerpt": "Post one excerpt",
"post_content": "This is post one content blah blah blah",
"post_slug": "post-one",
"__v": 0,
"createdAt": "2021-02-08T14:19:48.606Z",
"updatedAt": "2021-02-08T14:19:48.606Z"
},
{
"post_comments": [
"6025e1150d215935688d68ba",
"6025e1150d215935688d68bb"
],
"post_tags": [
"602148846168c7408831ac51",
"602148846168c7408831ac52"
],
"post_categories": [
{
"post_count": 2,
"_id": "602148846168c7408831ac4d",
"name": "Category Two",
"__v": 0,
"createdAt": "2021-02-08T14:19:48.647Z",
"updatedAt": "2021-02-19T05:55:46.053Z"
}
],
"post_meta_keywords": [],
"allow_comments": true,
"allow_search_engines": true,
"published": false,
"_id": "602148846168c7408831ac4a",
"post_title": "Post Two",
"post_excerpt": "Post Two excerpt",
"post_content": "This is post two content blah blah blah",
"post_slug": "post-two",
"__v": 0,
"createdAt": "2021-02-08T14:19:48.606Z",
"updatedAt": "2021-02-08T14:19:48.606Z"
},
{
"post_comments": [],
"post_tags": [],
"post_categories": [
{
"post_count": 2,
"_id": "602148846168c7408831ac4c",
"name": "Category One",
"__v": 0,
"createdAt": "2021-02-08T14:19:48.647Z",
"updatedAt": "2021-02-19T05:55:45.944Z"
}
],
"post_meta_keywords": [],
"allow_comments": true,
"allow_search_engines": true,
"published": false,
"_id": "602148846168c7408831ac4b",
"post_title": "Post Three",
"post_excerpt": "Post three excerpt",
"post_content": "This is post three content blah blah blah",
"post_slug": "post-three",
"__v": 0,
"createdAt": "2021-02-08T14:19:48.606Z",
"updatedAt": "2021-02-08T14:19:48.606Z"
}
]
that output only shows one category however if I show the output without populate it shows all the categories
[
{
"post_comments": [
"60257ffd6b08fb4334078b56"
],
"post_tags": [],
"post_categories": [
"602148846168c7408831ac4c"
],
"post_meta_keywords": [],
"allow_comments": true,
"allow_search_engines": true,
"published": false,
"_id": "602148846168c7408831ac49",
"post_title": "Post One",
"post_excerpt": "Post one excerpt",
"post_content": "This is post one content blah blah blah",
"post_slug": "post-one",
"__v": 0,
"createdAt": "2021-02-08T14:19:48.606Z",
"updatedAt": "2021-02-08T14:19:48.606Z"
},
{
"post_comments": [
"6025e1150d215935688d68ba",
"6025e1150d215935688d68bb"
],
"post_tags": [
"602148846168c7408831ac51",
"602148846168c7408831ac52"
],
"post_categories": [
"60342fbdfb8c6a0db2aecf00",
"602148846168c7408831ac4d"
],
"post_meta_keywords": [],
"allow_comments": true,
"allow_search_engines": true,
"published": false,
"_id": "602148846168c7408831ac4a",
"post_title": "Post Two",
"post_excerpt": "Post Two excerpt",
"post_content": "This is post two content blah blah blah",
"post_slug": "post-two",
"__v": 0,
"createdAt": "2021-02-08T14:19:48.606Z",
"updatedAt": "2021-02-08T14:19:48.606Z"
},
{
"post_comments": [],
"post_tags": [],
"post_categories": [
"6021479b255d7a3360d4bffa",
"602148846168c7408831ac4c"
],
"post_meta_keywords": [],
"allow_comments": true,
"allow_search_engines": true,
"published": false,
"_id": "602148846168c7408831ac4b",
"post_title": "Post Three",
"post_excerpt": "Post three excerpt",
"post_content": "This is post three content blah blah blah",
"post_slug": "post-three",
"__v": 0,
"createdAt": "2021-02-08T14:19:48.606Z",
"updatedAt": "2021-02-08T14:19:48.606Z"
}
]